How I Start Seeds
This post will show you a few ways that I start seeds. My methods have evolved and changed as the season has progressed. In the beginning I was all about saving money. I didn't want to wast a single seed or buy anything that I didn't have to. I have come to realize that it is better to spend the money and get the tools you need to be successful. I am not focusing on how to plant seeds the most efficiently.
Transplanting Method
When I first started this little farm I sprinkling seeds in a tray and allowed them to sprout and grow until they had their first set of true leaves. The pictures below will explain what "true leaves" are. You can transplant earlier or later than this, but this is a general guiline of when to transplant. Once the seedlings had their first set of true leaves I transplanted them into individual cells in 98 cell plug trays. I got my plug trays from a local nursery for about $2 each. If you take care of them they will last for years. I use my plug trays over and over throughout the season.
The blue arrows are pointing to the cotyledons, the rounded boring leaves that look similar on all plants. The red arrows are pointing to the "true leaves". You want to trasnplant your seedlings when they get their first set of "TRUE" leaves.
I then allowed the plants to grow in their individual cells until they formed a good root mass and were strong enough to be planted into the field. Each different plant will require different lengths of time in order to be ready to plant out in the field. To find out when to start each one read the back of your seed packets or look on Johnnyseeds.com, they have great information on when to start seeds.
Direct Seed Method
Another method of starting seeds that I am liking more and more is to direct seed into 98 cell plug trays. The reason I like it better than the previous method is that it saves a lot of time. You just sprinkle a few seeds into each cell of your plug tray and wait for them to germinate. When the seedlings have their first set of true leaves you determine which is the strongest and healthiest. Then you pluck out all other seedling in the cell except for the strong one. This is a big time saver compared to transplanting, but the down side is that you are wasting some seeds and this method requires more spcae to start seeds compared to transplanting. So you have to decide what is more important to you: saving time or saving seeds/ money/ growing space. Some seeds are expensive so I start them in individual trays, others are super cheap so I just sprinkle them into the plug trays and waste a few seeds.
Soil Blocking Method
Another option is to use a handy little device that I like to call a soil cube maker thingy. You can buy them on amazon or at Johnnyseeds.com for about $25 bucks and it has worked pretty well for us so far. The big benefit of this is the amount of seeds you can start in a very small space. You do have to transport the little cubes into plug trays or larger soil cubes, but it is still faster than transplanting.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-8088-hand-held-20-soil-blocker.aspx
The first step in making soil cubes is to mix up a growing medium to make the plugs out of. There are many many soil cube recipes on the internet, so you can research to your hearts content. I am more simplistic/ lazy so I mix up some regular potting soil that I have sifted to remove all of the large sticks and twigs and mix in some sand. My "recipe" is not an exact science, it is different every time I do it becuase I am still in the experimental/ learning phase of using a soil blocker. The main thing is to create a medium that the plants will grown in and that will make quality cubes that wont cumble and fall apart easily.
Next step is to mix in just the right amount of water. I add water slowly until I have acheived the consistancy that I want. In my experience, you want to add water until you can squeeze a handful together and it sticks. It is also good to be able to squeeze a little water out between your fingers, but not a lot of water. (very specific, I know... look at the pictures)
When you have the consistancy that you want you can push your soil blocker thingy into the soil to pack the medium into the little cubes. Somethimes I find it easier to turn the soil blocker upside down and puch handfuls of soil into the cubes. You want to put plenty of pressure on each cube so that they stick together when you punch them out.
Scrape the excess soil of the bottom of the soil blocker and push the lever to expell the cubes onto your tray.
Here is a close up of the cubes. You can see that the soil blocker makes a small indentation on the top of the cubes for the seeds to sit in. I just sprinkle seeds on the tops, but you could place one individual seed onto each cube if you wanted to...
You can use anything that you want for a tray. I can fit about 400 cubes into one standard tray! You could use any kind of plastic container or strofoam tray or even an old dinnerplate. I then conver the tray in plastic wrap and put it on the heat mat under some grow lights to germinate. It is important to cover you cubes with something to conserve the moisture and increase humidity to allow your seeds to germinate as quickly as possible. If you cover your seeds you probably wont have to water them until they germinate. When you do water them you MUST MUST MUST only water from the bottom. This means that you have to gently pour water down the side of your tray and allow the soil cubes to soak up the moisture from below. If you spray water on the top of your cubes they will eventually desitigrate and crumble. You dont have to have a heating mat or grow lights, but they make things really convenient. You could just put your cubes by a window in a warm place in your house. However, when your seeds sprout they will need more light than a window can provide, you will have to put them into a greenhouse, a cold frame or under some lights.
Other Helpful Hints for Starting Seeds
If you want to have quality flowers for as long as possible you are going to have to succession plant many of your seeds. This means you will need to start seeds periodically over the course of the year. For example, sing stem sunflowers have to be planted about every week in order to have blooms all summer long. They only produce one quality stem before they must be ripped out and planted again. Other plants produce multiple stems throughout a longer period of time, but they will become tired and produce sub-par flowers. Johnnyseeds has a good succession planting calander here.
I highly recommend buying a seed starting heating mat. It warms the soil allowing the seeds to germinate much faster. During the winter months it can be difficult to get seeds to germinate because everything is still so cold, having a heating mat really speeds things up during those colder months.
My favorite seed companies are Johnny Seeds, Swallowtail Seeds and Fedco Seeds.
